Good…Not Great

When I was growing up, I was always told to do my very best at each and every task I preformed. Whether it was in the classroom, on the field, or really anywhere else I stepped foot. A standard of excellence was introduced to me rather early, and soon enough, I began to demand perfection in all aspects of my life. So naturally, as I began to excel in some areas, I wanted to succeed in all others as well. And as weird as it is to hear myself say, I did.

I’ve always had a rather strange knack for doing pretty well at just about anything I have tried. This, I believe, has very little to do with specific abilities in in a lot of these areas, but rather determination and hard work coupled with a lot of blood sweat and tears. While I have certainly won my fair share of MVP awards throughout the years, I’ve no doubt held more honors in hustle awards and most improved player prior to ever being considered a “valuable” member of any team. 

While the degree behind my name begs to differ, I will readily admit I am not a master at anything.  It’s even taken quite a while for me to even learn how to admit that I’m good at anything at all! But while I have always been good at a variety of things, I have never really been great at any one thing.  And until I was in college, I had no idea of just how much of a gift that truly was.

Until my Senior year of high school, the many facets of my life never seemed to phase me. I moved around enough that I didn’t really get to know people as much as I could have, never really getting attached knowing that departure was inevitable in a few short years. So I focused on my hobbies. Soccer, school work, basketball, dance, violin, foreign language, softball, gymnastics, youth group… you name it, I probably tried it. Since I was involved in so many different activities, I was also connected to so many different types of people. And in each group I was known by the adjective that most suited that activity. Athletic. Intelligent. You get the idea. I was friends with the nerds and the popular kids. The outcasts and the band geeks. The rebels and the goody two shoes. I never seemed to understand why everyone couldn’t just get along and why the petty drama existed among cliques since I had come to see the good within each group. And it wasn’t until senior superlatives came out that I even noticed that I didn’t fit the mold of one “type” of person. I had been good at so many things, that I wasn’t great at anything. I wasn’t known for anything. I wasn’t “that” girl who did “_____”. I was just some girl. I started to believe that because of this, I had been virtually invisible my whole life. Never leaving a footprint on anyone’s lives, because who would remember the girl who couldn’t be described by one word? How could someone make a difference if they didn’t shine in one selected area?

One of my dear friends in college used to always joke with me that every time she would tell me about this guy or that girl, that I would have some random connection to them and I already knew who she was talking about. Or when she asked if I had read something, or know how to do something, that I would somehow randomly would have already had experience with that activity. Her response was always “of course you do.” Lately I have found such a intricate mix of connections and now re-connections of people in my life through my personal, professional, and blogging worlds. As I began to survey the seeming realm of my connections, though certainly most of which were brief in depth and duration, I began to understand just what the Lord had laid out before me. He had blessed me with a unique gift of blending in rather than standing out. Of being a wallflower in the most beautiful way.  

For the longest time I had thought my inability to be defined by one word a hindrance. Striving to figure out what I could be perfect at and thus solidify my “greatness” and become known for something, once and for all. Yet I’ve found my heartstrings continuing to be pulled in a variety of ways, and the voice on the outside growing louder to echo my thoughts that unless I can do one thing “great” I will never be “good” enough to make a difference at all. This has especially come to be true in this very space. How can a blog exist that focuses on more than just one topic? You must choose. Faith. Fashion. Crafts. Recipes. Books. Marriage. Travel. You can’t be great at all of them, so pick one and define yourself as that…But to do such a thing would be the true hindrance to who I am, and this space is a reflection of that. The Lord has provided me a unique gift of being able to be the middle ground in a lot of different areas. He has equipped me to show His love in more than just a singular way. I am just good enough to help those around me, but not so great to push them away. I am just good enough that someone can relate without feeling overwhelmed. I’m just good enough to show that if He can use me, He can use anyone. 

I am not defined by a singular word, because nor was my Savior. He is generous. Merciful. Our teacher. He is just. Compassionate. Our leader. He is the beginning and the end and the very definition of love. If only one word were chosen to define Him, the only people who could identify with Him would be the ones who fit that mold. Likewise, are we not perhaps to be identified in such a way? Is not the goal to move from a desire to glorify ourselves and we are great at, but to use the good He has blessed us with to point to the only One who is truly great?

I challenge you to join me. To grow together as we each learn to embrace our uniqueness, and to use the very way He has created us to be to bring glory to His name. To stop thinking it’s all about us and what we can do, and to start loving others so as to show them that it has everything to do with what Jesus did. To use our “goodness” in any and every area of our lives to draw us closer to His greatness.